CrossFit Open - 18.1

Last Thursday, I watched the live stream of the announcement of the first workout of the 2018 CrossFit Open. It was kind of annoying, because they were only streaming it on Facebook, so I pretty much had to watch it on my phone instead of the TV, and the video was obscured by the likes and comments and while nothing was really blocked by that stuff, it was distracting.

Since I've been wanting to do more workouts Rx this year instead of scaled, I was paying close attention when Dave Castro finally started to tell us what torture lay ahead.

He said, "Toes to bar," and I was like, yeah, I can do those.

He said, "Rowing," and I was all, heck yeah.

He said, "Dumbbell clean and press," and I gulped.

Last year was the first year with dumbbells in the Open, and so I was pretty sure the weight standards wouldn't have changed for them. And that meant Rx for women would be 35 pounds.

I had no idea whether I could clean and press a 35 pound dumbbell with my left arm.

To be fair, I wasn't sure about my right arm either, but I wasn't worried about my right arm. If there's going to be arm weakness, it will be on my non-dominant side. So I went to bed that night thinking about 35# dumbbells.

And I dreamed. I dreamed about picking up a 35 pound dumbbell in my left hand and hefting it. Feeling the weight of it. And being completely unable to get it up to my shoulder. It was a boulder that wouldn't budge - though for some reason I was able to lift it off the ground. I dreamed that I could get it up to my shoulder, but that it wouldn't go overhead from there. None of my dreams were reassuring. In every one, I failed to lift the weight and decided to scale the workout.

So I was a little nervous going in on Friday morning when 18.1 would be the workout of the day, all day. The full workout (women's Rx) was a 20 minute AMRAP of 8 toes to bar, 10 35# dumbbell clean and press (5 each arm) and 12 calories of rowing. Scaling meant doing hanging knee raises instead of toes to bar and a 20 pound dumbbell.

We partnered up so as to take turns judging each other. I got the rower while my partner fetched the dumbbell. She could barely hold onto it with both hands, and my stomach gave a flutter as she went back for the 20 pounder for her use.

I stepped up to that dumbbell and I lifted it in my left hand. It was heavy. I leaned forward a bit into a hang clean position and hefted it up to my shoulder. Then I dipped my knees for a push press and got the beast overhead. I repeated that twice on the left side and then gave the right side three reps (right side was easier, of course).

I could do it. It might be slow and painful. It might take everything I had to keep going. But I could perform this workout Rx, and I was going to do just that.

On Friday morning, I got through 144 reps.

I re-did it on Sunday and got through 196.

A very nice start to the Open this year. I just hope that 18.2 will be something I can do Rx. I know my goal is to do 3 of 5 Rx, but of course my brain is whispering, wouldn't 5 out of 5 be nice? I'll have to wait and see.

Hunting Comfort

I still haven't tried out my new bra. Well, that's not entirely true. I did an all day wear test at work, which went fine. It's very comfortable, and perfectly adequate as a bra. But is it a backpacking bra? That is the question that I have yet to address.

Because the weekend that I was going to hike, I got sick again. And then the rains started. And they aren't scheduled to stop for a while.

I have some backpacking bras that I really like. And by some, I mean three of the exact same brand and style in different colors. They're triathlon bras, which means they dry really fast and have good support. They zip in the front, which makes for issues when doing crossfit, but rarely when backpacking. The problem I'm starting to have with them is that they are wearing out.

And of course they aren't made anymore.

So I'm trying to branch out and find a new bra that will work for me for backpacking. A backpacking bra, to me, has to be lightweight, comfortable, not bunch up under my pack's shoulder straps and - most importantly - dry quickly.

See, I sweat a lot when I backpack. Not just when it's hot out. If I'm moving at the pace I like to move at, chances are, I'm going to be sweating. Especially when there's hills to climb, because I love hiking uphill and I tend to go faster. Which leads to even more sweating.

And while I'm moving, sweating is fine. It helps keep me cool. My shirt and pants are quick drying, so when I stop hiking for the day, I don't have long before those two articles are dry. And once your shirt is dry, there is nothing quite so uncomfortable - and heat sucking - as a wet bra.

So I need to get out on a hike. Soon! And I need to sweat (easy part). And then I need to come home and leave that bra on and see how long it takes to dry. If I'm not satisfied, then the hunt must continue.

Scaling Back

Well. I didn't go on a hike last weekend, because despite the perfect weather, I was stricken with yet another cold. Or something. It was an unpleasant day that I spent mostly in bed. And now the rain is coming again.

But the illness also helped me remember to scale back my intensity a bit. I was having quite a bit of soreness and tightness in my chest and so I took some advice to ease back on the pull up training for a bit to let that sort itself out. I reduced the number of CrossFit classes that I went to and took some time off doing pull ups so that I could come back to training hard without that soreness and pain.

I think it worked. I'm not feeling the same kind of tightness in my chest that I had been. I'm still tired and sore this week now that I'm ramping back up on my exercise intensity, but I'm looking at changing the way I'm doing pull up training. Right now I've got a three day a week training plan, and that plan got me to doing strict pull ups, but I'm signed up for a Spartan Race in June. I need to work on running.

So I'm going to try and figure out a two day a week pull up focused training plan, because I believe that having good grip strength and body weight lifting capabilities will be important for Spartan. And reducing my dedicated pull up workouts from three to two frees up one of those time slots for a 30 minute run.

Now, yes, I could add the run elsewhere, but I know myself. I get myself to Crossfit at 5 in the morning before I realize I'm awake. I go and workout twice a week during the day because my job allows me to take exercise release time at the Rec Center. I try to get to yoga in the evenings. And I'll try to add running on the weekends. But trying is not the same as doing. I need to carve out one of those workday workouts for running.

And maybe I'll lose some of my pull up strength. Or maybe I'll lose some weight from the increased cardio and end up with net pull up gains. Either way, I think it's the right thing to do to reach my goal. And I've been enjoying getting back into running again.

Early Spring Fever

The weather in Boise is not normal February weather. Too warm. Too wet.

The nearby foothills trails have experienced intermittent closures without the compensating factor of freezing temperatures. See, if it freezes overnight, then there's a time in the early morning when you can hike on the frozen trail, but with no overnight freezing, there's no frozen trails, just muddy trails.

But it has been drier lately. And it doesn't look like there'll be much rain this week. So I'm going to give into my inexplicably-early-spring fever and take a hike on Saturday. Maybe just up to Table Rock, maybe up to Lucky Peak. My husband suggested Table Rock when he reminded me that Saturday is a shopping day, and I told him I didn't need to hike all day. But I'm faster than him. Lucky Peak isn't an all day hike. It's just 11 miles. Or so.

Though Table Rock is probably the more sensible option. I haven't hiked in a while because of the warm, wet winter so far. Last time we went up Lucky Peak was in October.

But it really doesn't matter which one I take. I have to get out there and haul myself up a steep hill and breathe the whipping wind from the top. I prefer Lucky Peak because it doesn't tend to draw crowds, whereas Table Rock without people during the day is pretty rare. Especially with the lovely weather we've been having. Weather that in no way belongs in February.

But here it is. So I'm going to get outside.